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Analogous to nervous cluelessness is something we might call “anxious gatekeeping.” This is desire to police the borders of poetry, or of...

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Really, though

Since I am in the Humanities, I think that encouraging women to study STEM fields when their interest is in the Humanities is misguided. It would like someone telling me to be a physicist. Why should I? (Especially because I would suck at it.) Do I want my brilliant female colleagues and students to study something else instead?

It is true that men can also be brilliant humanists, but for every young boy who likes to read there are 2.5 girls (made-up statistic!) so why would you want to reapportion that? I realize it is a problem for STEM, but it is not my problem at all.

It would be like trying to make latinos into football and basketball players when they want to be baseball and soccer players. Of course, there shouldn't be discrimination, but if particular demographics tend in particular directions, why do we want to stop them?